Tempus Fugit: The Accident
by Kishiro Kitsune
Summary: AU. After a horrible accident, Cloud and his two little brothers move in with his best friend Squall and Squall's roommate, Seifer.


**Tempus Fugit**

_The Accident_

Squall waited until he saw the hallway light finally go out and then he slipped out of his bed and quietly padded over to the bedroom window. He slowly slid it up, glancing over at his roommate to make sure he was still asleep. Not that Irvine would be much of a problem. If anything, the nine-year-old would ask him to shut the window before he left and to not stay out too late. If he were anyone else--say, Zell or, Hyne forbid, Seifer--then Squall would be worried.

He climbed out onto the roof with a kitten-like grace, nearly slipping and rolling straight off. He quickly regained his balance and slid down the window until there was only a crack at the bottom that he could use to pull it back up. Then he slowly crawled over to the edge of the roof and used his foot to tentatively search for the sturdy trellis Matron grew her climbing flowers on. Like he had for the past week, he carefully climbed down it before running across the street to the home of his newfound friend, Cloud Strife.

Cloud was a short, ten-year-old boy with the wildest blond hair Squall had ever seen. And that was saying something, considering he used to rooming with Zell Dincht and the boy had some crazy hair styles.

Squall had met Cloud the week before when one of the blond's younger brothers--he couldn't tell which one; they looked exactly alike--accidentally kicked their ball into the orphanage yard and Cloud ventured over to retrieve it. He and Squall had to team up to get it back from Seifer, who thought it would be fun to play keep-away with it, and the two had been friends ever since.

It was Cloud who began the tradition of sneaking out at night to talk. The night after they rescued the ball together, he snuck over to the orphanage and climbed up to tap on the window. Thankfully, Squall was lacking a roommate at the time, as Irvine was in quarantine because he was sick. It made it much easier to sneak out.

Across the street, Squall found Cloud sitting in the backyard on the picnic table with his scrawny legs drawn up to his chest. He hurried across the springy grass and hopped up onto the table beside his friend.

"Hey," Cloud quietly greeted as he continued staring up at the starry sky.

"Hi," Squall replied, sitting down with his legs hanging over the edge.

"My momma says you're leaving at the end of summer. That you're going to live at school and I won't see you anymore," Cloud said.

"Oh… yeah," Squall said sadly. "But I'll be back next summer! And we can spend every day together, 'kay?"

Cloud was silent for a moment before he finally lowered his gaze to Squall. "Do you promise?" he asked, holding up a hand with his pinky finger extended. "Pinky swear?"

Squall looked confused. "What's that mean?"

"You don't know?" Cloud asked in surprise. "It's a super-promise! It means you have to keep it, no matter what."

Squall held up his hand and looked at it for a moment before slowly curling it into a loose fist, leaving only his pinky finger out. "Pinky swear," he murmured.

Cloud quickly linked their fingers, which made Squall jump in surprise. It was the first time the blond had been bold enough to actually touch him.

"There," Cloud said. "Now, no matter what, we'll get to see each other all next summer. We'll have tons to talk about then."

Squall nodded, still looking at their linked pinky fingers in amazement. Not only was Cloud his very first friend outside of the orphanage, he was also the first person he ever made a promise with.

* * *

And it was a promise he kept.

Six years later, Squall could still remember the first vow he made to Cloud under that starry sky. Others followed it--one for each summer they shared together. Every time they made a promise, they sealed it with a pinky swear, confident that the childish gesture would ensure it would be kept.

It was nearing the end of yet another school year at Balamb Garden High School and Squall was cleaning up his apartment in preparation for Cloud's first-ever visit to the town. The blond was going to stay with him and his roommate for a few days while his parents took his little brothers to the beach.

"I don't see why the hell we have to clean up for this guy," Seifer Almasy, his roommate and school rival, complained. "It's not like having a little mess around will kill anyone, Leonhart."

Squall rolled his eyes, familiar with his roommate's usual mask of annoyance. He knew better than anyone that the apartment wouldn't be nearly as clean as it was if Seifer weren't there. As a matter of fact, it was the tall blond's idea to clean up. He'd been pestering Squall about it for weeks, in his own unique Seifer-ish way, of course, which generally involved him making scathing remarks about Squall's homemaker skills and lack of self-discipline.

It would have been annoying if it weren't so funny watching him fuss over every little mess and then go walk around the school as if he didn't have a care in the world. In a way, Squall felt honored that he got to see a whole different side to Seifer; a side that not even Seifer's two best friends had never seen.

"This was all _your _idea," Squall reminded him as he put away the last clean plate. "What else needs to be done?"

"Give me the trash," Seifer told him. "I want to go leave it in front of chicken wuss's room."

"You will not," Squall said automatically.

Zell Dincht, called "chicken wuss" by Seifer, lived on the floor below them with his mom and was the only other previous orphanage kid who lived in the building. All of the others either lived with their parents in cute little houses or, like Quistis Trepe, lived in a small apartment nearby the high school.

"It'd be funny," Seifer said with a smirk. "Can't you imagine the look on his face when he runs out the door and collides with the bag and shit goes flying everywhere?"

"Yes," Squall said tersely. "Because you did it last week and ended up getting chewed out by Matron _and _Ma Dincht. Don't do it again."

"Trying to look out for me, Leonhart?" Seifer asked mockingly. "Save it. I don't need your mothering. Why don't you save it for your little blond boy-toy. I'm sure he likes it."

Squall narrowed his eyes and clenched his hands into fists at his sides. "For the last damn time, Almasy, I am _not _gay."

Seifer gave him one of his infamously infuriating smirks before he walked over to Squall and leaned down to breathe in his ear, "We'll see about that."

Squall's face blazed red at the closeness of his roommate, which was just the reaction the older boy was looking for. He forced him to remain still and _not _punch the living daylights out of Seifer as the blond laughed mockingly and headed for the door.

"I'll be sure to get some tea and cookies for your little date, princess," Seifer called over his shoulders. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Squall grumbled under his breath as the door clicked shut. Then he resumed his appointed task of cleaning up the kitchen.

It was simply amazing; some of the things he found in the cupboards were well over a year old and didn't have a spot of mold on them. Others, like an unidentifiable something on a plate, probably had hundreds of various mold colonies growing everywhere and were barely two weeks old. Things like that were picked up with an old pair of tongs (which were going straight into the trash once the cleaning spree was over), heavily sprayed with Lysol, and then dumped into the trash and sprayed with more disinfectant.

Seifer had laughed when he first caught the brunet doing it. However, after one of the unidentifiable mold creatures growled at him and moved and he was forced to beat it to death with a shoe until Squall sprayed it with enough disinfectant to kill an army of angry hornets, he finally agreed that the safety measures were necessary. He also vowed to never eat anything else from the cupboards. _Ever._

It was for that reason he was going out grocery shopping, while Squall was stuck scrubbing down the cupboards and fighting off any remaining mold creatures.

As he was scrubbing down the second of the cupboards--he was ashamed to admit that he had to climb up onto the counter in order to reach the back and the top shelves--the phone rang. He hesitated a moment, wondering if he should just let the answering machine get it. The persistent ringing convinced him otherwise and he left the sponge sitting in the cupboard while he hopped down to trek across the small kitchen to the phone. He wiped his soapy hands on his pants and then picked up the ringing device, figuring it was either Seifer calling to make sure the mold creatures hadn't killed him or Matron checking up on him.

Little did he know the voice on the other end would soon change his life forever.

Fifteen-year-old Squall Leonhart could feel his world breaking down around him as the voice on the other end informed him that Cloud had been in a car accident and was asking for him--only him. Though it was generally against hospital rules, the persistence of the young blond and the ferocity with which he demanded the presence of his friend was enough to convince most of the nurses, as well as his doctor, that it was in Cloud's best interests to have his friend there to see him.

Squall numbly stammered that he was on the way before the phone slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground as he slowly sunk to his knees. _'Cloud…'_

An image of the summer when he fell out of a tree and broke his leg suddenly came to his mind as he remembered how Cloud spent every second possible with him, even going as far as to climb up into his bedroom every night just so their nightly talks could continue. After that was the whole winter vacation he had spent sick with pneumonia, after he and Seifer had a massive snowball fight and he got shoved into the snow. Cloud had spent most of that winter break trying to nurse him back to health so they could play again.

In the back of his mind, Squall registered that Cloud had been there for him during his worst moments and as soon as he needed Squall by his side, Squall couldn't find the strength to get to his feet and go to him.

He felt tears begin to pool behind his eyes and ferociously rubbed at them as if it would prevent him from crying. It didn't work.

And to make matters worse, just as tears started to roll freely down his cheeks, the door opened and Seifer came bustling in with an armful of bags.

"Hey, princess! Hope you didn't miss me too much!" he called out loudly, unsure as to where his brown-haired counterpart had vanished to. He frowned when he didn't hear Squall's usual growl of annoyance or feel the infamous burning glare boring holes into his skull. "Leonhart?" he questioned, his voice still raised to a yell.

Seifer shuffled into the kitchen and nearly dropped the bags when he saw Squall sitting motionless on the floor. He cursed and roughly set the bags on the counter before kneeling down beside Squall and giving his shoulders a brisk shake. "Hey. Hey! Snap the fuck out of it, Squall!" he yelled, sounding slightly panicked. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Cloud," Squall finally whispered, swallowing thickly before continuing. "He's in the hospital."

Seifer cursed loudly for a second time and ran a hand through his short blond hair in agitation. "Which hospital?" he demanded.

"Balamb," Squall quietly replied.

Seifer snatched up the phone and quickly dialed a number as he got back to his feet. He snapped at whoever was on the other end to hand the phone over to Matron and when he got a negative response he demanded to speak to the headmaster instead, adding in that it was "a fucking emergency, you dumb ass secretary!"

The second the headmaster of Balamb Garden High School (and husband of beloved Matron) got on the phone, Seifer quickly relayed the situation to him. It took only a few seconds to get the headmaster to agree to send a car for him and Squall to take them straight to the hospital. When Seifer demanded why he had to go along too, he got a less-than-satisfactory reply of: "Because Squall needs you." Nevertheless, he agreed.

* * *

Although Seifer had to half drag, half carry Squall out of the apartment and down to the car, the brunet regained use of his legs the second they pulled up to the doors of the hospital. He shot out of the car like a racehorse charging free of the gate and was through the doors before Seifer could get one foot on the pavement. With a growl of displeasure, the blond took off after him without even shutting the door.

He caught up to Squall at the front desk as he was frantically demanding to know what room Cloud was in. So he did exactly what he would do at any other time and hoisted Squall back by the furry collar of his jacket so he could step up to the desk instead.

"We're looking for the room of Cloud Strife," Seifer calmly told the woman.

The woman checked her computer and gave Seifer the room number, but before she could tell him that only family was allowed in, it was too late. Seifer had already begun to drag Squall down the correct hallway, as the brunet had once again temporarily lost use of his legs because of his panicking.

"I'll tell you what; you and blondie are the two most troublesome people I have ever met. There's you, who attracts trouble like a bug zapper attracts bugs. Then there's Cloud, who is the cause of more trouble than I am, and that's saying something!" Seifer ranted. He glanced over at Squall and growled in frustration when he saw the listless look in the brunet's blue-gray eyes. With a grunt, he slammed him into the wall. "Listen here, Squall Leonhart! Either you snap the hell out of it right now and walk in there to see him, or I drag you the fuck out of here until you grow a pair and can walk in here without breaking down! _Do you hear me?!_"

Squall finally reacted. He reached up and grabbed Seifer's wrists as he looked up and met his eyes. "I hear you," he muttered.

"What was that?" Seifer asked, tightening his grip on Squall's jacket.

"I hear you," Squall said more loudly. "Now let me go! Cloud needs me!"

Seifer smirked and let him go. Taking a step back, he said, "It's about damn time you snapped out of it. Now get in there. And try not to faint again, princess, because next time I won't be around to catch you." Then he pushed Squall towards the room and waited until the brunet was actually inside. With a sigh and a shake of his head, Seifer turned around and made his way back down the hall to the waiting room. There was no way he was going to stick around to watch Squall get all emotional. He'd seen more than enough for one day.

* * *

Squall crept into the room and sucked in a breath when he saw Cloud lying on a bed with a bunch of machines beeping and whirring around him while chords ran everywhere. He felt his heart constrict in his chest as he tried to breathe and move towards the bed. He only got a foot closer before Cloud wearily opened his eyes and looked at him.

"Cloud," Squall whispered. "Cloud!" he repeated as he rushed over to the bed.

"Squall," Cloud whispered hoarsely, wincing in pain. He paused a moment and waited for Squall to get close enough so he could lower his voice a bit more. _"Tale Sora and Roxas… out of here,"_ he said so quietly that Squall had to strain his ears to hear. _"Take them with you… please. Please."_

Squall had to blink back tears at the state of misery his best friend was in. "I promise," he whispered. "I'll take them back to my place. And then you and your parents--"

Cloud winced as he tried to slowly shake his head. _"In bad shape."_

"Then you can come and stay with us until everything's okay," Squall said firmly. "We'll make room. You can sleep in my bed. We've got a small spare room that Sora and Roxas can stay in. It'll be okay. I promise."

Cloud shakily held up his hand with his pinky finger extended.

Squall couldn't help but give a nervous chuckle before he gently intertwined his finger with Cloud's. "Pinky swear," he whispered.

* * *

"I cannot believe you agreed to this without asking me," Seifer angrily growled as he swung open the door to the apartment. Under one arm he had a bright, sunshine yellow bag with Disney stickers plastered all over it, while the other was free to hold the keys.

"It's just until their parents wake up and are well enough to be released from the hospital," Squall said tiredly, lifting up a dark blue bag devoid of any stickers. Behind him were Cloud's two younger brothers, Roxas and Sora, who were walking sedately, hand-in-hand. The two of them barely had a scratch between them, though Squall felt sure that they'd be showing a few bruises by the next day.

"Come on in," Squall called back to them. "And don't mind Almasy; he's always like that."

Seifer scoffed and dropped the bag in the middle of the floor before retreating to the small kitchen. "What the hell, Leonhart? You call these cupboards clean?!"

Squall ignored him. "This place is small, but we have a room you can stay in while you're here. It's over there. And my room is right next to yours," he told the boys, pointing out the rooms. "The kitchen is over there and we usually eat at the counter, though we can probably convince Matron to bring us a little table and some chairs. We might be able to squeeze them in." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Bathroom's on the other side of my room. Almasy's room is over there, but I'd stay away from it. We have a little TV in the corner, but we only get local channels."

He hefted up the yellow bag that Seifer dropped on the floor and carried it into the small spare room. The two boys trailed after him without a word, still holding hands.

"Squall, everything's going to okay, right?" the darker haired twin, Sora, asked.

Squall hesitated as he set the bags down near the closet. "Of course," he said as he straightened back up. "I promised Cloud that everything would be okay, so it will be. Now, let's get this couch made up."

"Ooo, is it a magic couch? The kind that turns into a bed?" Sora asked eagerly.

"It's called a sofa bed," Roxas said softly.

A loud curse from the kitchen prevented Squall from making another comment about the couch that turns into a bed. He quickly excused himself and walked back out to the living room/entranceway/study to find Seifer standing just outside of the kitchen wearing his long, yellow dishwashing gloves.

"There's a-fucking-nother one," Seifer hissed.

"Another what?" Squall asked.

Seifer's eyes darted around the room in search of something. Anything. Anything he could possibly use to aid himself in the battle for the kitchen area. _'Where is it?'_ he wondered. _'Where did I put it? __**Fuck!**__" _

Then he spotted a shoe on the ground and made a mad dash for it. He scooped it up and began laughing maniacally as he ran back to the kitchen, shoe in hand.

"There's something wrong with you," Squall called after him.

A loud _bang! _from the kitchen attracted the attention of the Strife twins, and they curiously peeked out of the room they had been given to see what was going on.

"_**Die you fucker!" **_Seifer screamed.

There was a quick series of loud _bang!'s,_ followed by a line of colorful curses before there was silence. Then Seifer walked out if the kitchen, his face white as snow. "Don't go in there," he warned, sounding traumatized. "Just don't go in there."

Squall frowned at the lack of cursing. Whatever happened in that kitchen, it was enough to shock Seifer into not cursing. Then he noticed something else weird. "Where's your shoe?" he asked.

If possible, Seifer went even paler at the mention of his shoe. He muttered, "I don't want to talk about it," and then slinked off to his room to nurse his wounded pride.

"I-is there something bad in the kitchen?" Sora asked fearfully.

"No. It's nothing you need to worry about. I'm half certain he suffers from hallucinations," Squall lied. "Let's go get that bed made up. I think I have some old sheets in the closet."

* * *

The next few weeks passed without much incident. The biggest thing that happened was Sora finding one of the so-called mold monsters and making it his pet, to Seifer's outrage. It turned out that it was a mouse that Zell set loose in order to exact his revenge on the taller blond boy. Squall wasn't very amused, but watching Seifer squirm whenever it was in the same room as him was kind of worth it. Even if he did have to scrub the cupboards clean again.

Sora and Roxas had settled into a rather quiet evening routine of helping out with chores and not raising a ruckus when Squall deemed it time for bed. Their daytime routine, however, was constantly changing as they rotated between being watched by Matron, Ma Dincht, and Headmaster Cid while the two older boys were busy with classes. They didn't mind too much. The changing kept them from thinking and worrying about Cloud and their parents as much.

At least, they didn't worry until Squall told them they were going to go visit Cloud and bring him back to the apartment. After that, they couldn't contain their questions or worries anymore.

Squall felt sure he got the full barrage of their assault, so when the morning of the hospital visit finally arrived he felt relieved. That was until the ever-energetic being known as Sora jumped on top of him the second his eyes flickered open and yelled, "He's awake!" Squall couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't too late to go back to sleep and avoid life for another few hours.

While Sora continued to bounce on the bed, Roxas shuffled into the room clad in his blue pajamas and clutching his chocobo plushy to his chest, his big blue eyes trained hopefully on Squall.

The oldest boy looked from the hopeful look on Roxas's face to the bright smile on Sora's and sighed. Running his fingers through his mussed hair, he said, "Alright. Lets get breakfast and then we'll go."

Sora let out a _whoop! _of joy and leapt off the bed before dashing out of the room. Roxas remained in place by the doorway.

"Cloud's gonna be okay, right?" he asked, sounding troubled. "He'll be able to talk again?"

Squall looked away from the oldest of the twins, unsure of how to answer. Some time during the three weeks he was in the hospital, Cloud's throat had begun to bother him so badly that he simply stopped talking. Squall knew that if he was having a hard time adjusting to the silent Cloud it must have been much worse for Sora and Roxas.

With everything that had happened, he was relieved that the two could still smile. They were so strong--much stronger than him.

Squall looked up and realized that Roxas was still waiting for an answer. "I don't know," he said honestly. "But I'm sure Cloud will be just fine. He'll probably be up and moving around tomorrow, no matter how much we try to stop him."

Roxas managed a weak smile and clutched the plushy even more tightly. "Yeah," he murmured in agreement.

* * *

"Cloud!"

Squall caught Sora and dragged him back before he could take a flying leap towards the blond boy sitting on the bed. He looked as good as ever, but there were still some stitches that would be agitated by any sudden force.

"He's still hurting," he whispered to Sora. "Don't jump on him."

Sora froze. He had completely forgotten about Cloud's injuries in his happiness to see his brother. He hanged is head in shame, scuffing one of his bright yellow shoes against the floor. "Sorry," he whispered.

Squall released his hold on the small brunet and, feeling extremely awkward, patted him on the head in what he hoped was a comforting manner. It seemed to do the trick though, because Sora looked up at him and smiled before he walked over to join Roxas by the bedside.

Squall hung back, not wanting to get in the way of what looked like a brotherly moment. There were no chairs to sit on, so he just stood near the door, hands jammed in his pockets. For a while he listened to Sora talk about anything he could think of. Then his thoughts began to wander and Sora's words became unintelligible noise.

Had anyone told Cloud about the condition of his parents? Did he remember anything about the crash? Why wouldn't he speak anymore? Was it because of a physical injury or was it more psychological? What could he do to help his friend? _Could _he help?

Squall blinked back tears, trying his best to be the strong one. If he started crying it would cause a chain reaction, starting with Sora.

He rubbed one eye. If anyone asked, he was planning on claiming there was something in it and that he was _not _crying. He happened to glance at Cloud when looking over to make sure Sora and Roxas hadn't noticed, and froze when he saw the look of pain and sadness in those beautiful blue eyes.

Cloud help out his hand, beckoning Squall to join them. Relief washed over his face when Squall stumbled over his own two feet as he hastily made his way over to the bed. And for a moment, as Squall reached out and took his hand, everything was fine again.

* * *

Everything was not fine. Not at all.

Squall didn't know what to do. Cloud still wasn't talking, Seifer was in a permanently bad mood, Roxas was suffering from nightmares, and Sora's constant false-cheer wasn't helping matters.

It had been almost a week since Cloud joined them in the cramped apartment, and instead of things getting better, they were getting worse.

Mr. and Mrs. Strife still hadn't woken up from their comas. From what Squall understood, the two had taken serious injuries to the head. Although their conditions had been stable for a while, which had given doctors hope that they would eventually recover, things were looking worse.

Squall was surprised when it wasn't Cloud who took the news the hardest. It wasn't Roxas either. It was Sora.

Squall was sitting at the counter one evening, studying for his last Final Exam, when Sora shuffled out of his and Roxas's room looking absolutely miserable. The older boy didn't notice the little brunet until he heard a sniffle. The moment he looked at Sora, the youngest Strife burst into tears and threw himself towards him with a choked sob. Squall barely had time to set down his pencil before Sora wrapped his scrawny arms around his leg.

"Sora…" he said softly, reaching down to thread his fingers through the smaller brunet's chocolate spikes of hair. He had found it to be the best method to calm him down or cheer him up, aside from teasing him or trying to make a joke. "Sora, what's wrong?"

"It's all my fault!" Sora wailed before hiccupping. "I-it is! I w-wanted to go t-to the b-beach! A-and now look!"

Squall uncomfortably unwound Sora's arms from his leg so he would slide off of the stool to wrap him in a hug as a fresh wave of sobs began. "It's not your fault," he said softly, reaching up to run his fingers through Sora's hair again. "It's not. So don't blame yourself for this, okay? If you want to blame anyone, blame me."

"Y-you?" Sora asked with a sniffle.

Squall swallowed heavily. "I-I wanted Cloud to come visit. If it weren't for me, you guys wouldn't have been on that road."

Sora's eyes went wide. "B-but I can't blame you! You didn't know! You just wanted to see Cloud! It's not your fault! You didn't know!"

"And neither did you," Squall said gently, pulling back a little. "No one expected this to happen, Sora. If you did, then you would have said something and you never would have been on that road, right?"

Sora nodded weakly. "R-right."

"So, it wasn't your fault and it wasn't my fault," Squall said. "Whose fault do you reckon it was? Roxas?"

Sora picked up on the teasing quality in Squall's voice and gave a shaky giggle. "Nuh-uh. No way."

"Hmm…" Squall tapped his chin and pretended to think long and hard. "Was it… the wind?"

That time Sora smiled. "You're silly, Squall," he said fondly. "It was the stoplight's fault."

Squall chuckled and gathered Sora in his arms. "Of course," he said lightly. "Now, how about you get back to bed before Roxas wonders where you went."

Sora yawned and snuggled up against Squall, closing his eyes and murmuring, "'kay." He was asleep just seconds before Squall set him down beside his twin. He didn't even stir when the older boy tucked in the blankets around him.

Squall stood back and took in the picturesque scene. The two boys were too adorable for words. There was Roxas, curled up around his chocobo plushy, blond hair sticking out in every direction. Then there was Sora, limps flung in all directions, brown hair closely resembling a chocobo nest and drool dripping down his chin.

Squall chuckled and left the room, leaving the door cracked open. He went to the kitchen to turn off the light and shut his book before he retreated to his room. There he found an even cuter scene; one that brought a light blush to his cheeks.

Cloud was fast asleep on his bed with the most peaceful look on his face that Squall had ever seen. It was like looking at a completely different Cloud.

Squall stood in the doorway looking at his friend for some time, taking in the way his chocobo-blond hair looked droopier than usual and how he slept on his side with one hand curled up to his chest and the other laying flat on the bed. His mouth was slightly parted and Squall could hear his quiet breathing all the way from the other side of the room. Never before had he been more aware of how very feminine and vulnerable that Cloud looked. It made him feel like he needed to protect Cloud from anything that could ever hurt him, no matter how impossible it was.

'_What is this feeling?' _Squall wondered, hearing his heart beat furiously. It sounded so loud to him that he swore Cloud could probably hear it in his sleep. _'I feel so… warm. And my heart…' _He put a hand over his fast beating heart, wishing it would slow down. He looked away from Cloud for a moment, trying to get a grip on his emotions, when he heard a strange rustling noise.

Squall guiltily looked over at Cloud, who was blinking against the light assaulting his vision. He mumbled a quick "sorry" and ducked out the door to shut off the bright light before he returned to the room.

Cloud was sitting up when he got back, his impossibly bright eyes cast down at the blankets.

Squall sighed and ran a hand through his hair, unsure of what to say. Should he apologize for getting to bed so late? For disrupting his sleep? For watching him while he was sleeping?

He eventually decided on the second one and hastily stammered out an apology for waking Cloud up. Then they lapsed back into silence.

After a few minutes, Cloud let out a breathy sigh and patted the space beside him. Guessing that the gesture meant his friend wanted him to join him on the bed, he walked over and sat down.

Cloud rolled his eyes when Squall continued to sit on the edge of the bed and not look at him. Hissing his displeasure through his teeth, he grabbed Squall's shoulders and forced him to lie down. Then he curled up into his friend's side, wrapped his arms around him, and closed his eyes, hoping that Squall would get the hint.

Squall did. Hesitantly, he rolled over on his side and gently wrapped one arm around Cloud. The last time they had done anything remotely similar was when they were twelve and Mr. Strife set up a tent for them to camp out in the backyard. Of course, he also told them scary stores around the campfire, which was what led to the two boys curling up together that night.

It wasn't long before the two teenagers were fast asleep and lost in their own dream worlds. Nothing could disturb them. Not even the racket of the storm that blew in during the night.

Nothing except the two adorable beings known as Sora and Roxas, who just so happened to be absolutely terrified by thunderstorms. It seemed the car crash only intensified their fear, as they came running into the room after the first two cracks of lightning and rumbles of thunder they heard.

Sora was the first to take a running dive into Squall's and Cloud's bed, jostling the two awake. He crawled up under the blankets, whimpering, until at last he reached the end and clung onto Squall's t-shirt.

A bolt of lightning cracked nearby, illuminating the room so that Roxas could be seen standing in the doorway clinging to his chocobo plushy with wide eyes.

"Come on and join us, Roxas," Squall said gently.

Roxas didn't have to be told twice. He too took a flying leap onto the bed, although he crawled overtop the blankets and snuggled down in them once he reached Cloud.

And there they stayed for the rest of the night.

* * *

The End

* * *

Writing this one made me realize how much I love Seifer. That's probably why the next one I'm working on involves him.

I have to admit, I really like having Seifer and Squall having a brotherly friendship type thing, at least when I'm writing in the Kingdom Hearts universe. Strictly FF8, I rather like them as a couple.

Anyway, this will probably be the longest Tempus Fugit one-shot I do. It's 9 pages (5,858 words), which is 3 pages more than what I usually write. It was fun, although I got stuck a few times. The last scene is my favorite. Well, either that or the war on the "mold creatures" in the kitchen.

The next one is about Seifer, Roxas, and Sora. Tempus Fugit: Brothers-in-law


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